Hawk wins vote for John F. Kennedy Elementary School mascot

KINGSTON, N.Y. -- The hawk won the race to be John F. Kennedy Elementary School's new mascot in a landslide vote.

The hawk finished in first place with 111 votes, followed by the zebra with 62 votes, the gorilla with 60 votes, the bear with 46 votes, the raccoon with 31 votes, and the rhinoceros with 28 votes, according to Jennifer Boughton, a parent who helped organize the vote.

Frank L. Meagher Elementary School closed in June, and its students merged with Kennedy in September to create a new 354-student body.

"There are three different schools that have the baby tiger as their mascot, so we wanted to get the two schools together, get them united, and get them a mascot that represents both of the schools together," Boughton said of the effort.

Advertisement

Each of the potential mascots had symbolism attached to them. Boughton said the hawk "teaches observance."

Despite the sentiment, the move was somewhat divisive.

Boughton said only 313 children got to vote because some teachers refused to let their classes participate, although she noted the hawk led by a comfortable enough margin that the remaining ballots would not have changed the outcome.

Kathy Hernandez, president of the Parent Teacher Association, was among those against changing the mascot.

Hernandez said on Friday she is not against blending traditions between the two schools, like what Kennedy did on the first day of school when the building adopted Meagher's tradition of having a pep rally-like event to kick off the school year, but at the same time, she felt like the move is part of an effort to turn Kennedy into "a new school."

In addition to the ballots cast for the five main choices, Boughton said write-ins included three for a wolf, two for a baby tiger, two for a black panther, two for a cheetah, one for an owl (Meagher's old mascot), one for a cat, one for a leopard, one for a bald eagle, and one for a butterfly.